KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (April 21, 2009) - A two out double in the top of the ninth by left fielder Troy Mendez (Roswell, Ga.) lifted the ETSU baseball team to a 9-8 win over in-state rival Tennessee Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. as the Bucs completed the season sweep of the Vols.

The win is the fourth straight against Tennessee and the fifth straight this season for the Bucs as they go to 19-19 overall and 9-12 in conference. The Vols fall to 19-23 on the season and 5-13 in the SEC.

ETSU starter Bo Burton (Kingsport, Tenn.) went 5.2 innings in a no decision giving up three runs (two earned) on only two hits with three walks and a career high five strikeouts. Freshman Bo Reeder (Cookeville, Tenn.) picked up his fourth win of the year throwing 1.2 scoreless innings as he got five straight outs to close out the game.

Aaron Tullo (2-6) was tabbed with the loss giving up one run on two hits in 0.2 innings of work.

The Bucs were led offensively by Mendez and first baseman Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) as they both had three hits in the contest and two RBI.

Tennessee took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as a run came in to score on a slow roller to third by Cody Grisham.

The Bucs answered in the top of the third as Reeder doubled to the gap in left center scoring Garrett May (Roswell, Ga.) to tie the game at 1-all. Later in the inning Reeder came in to score on an error by the Volunteer first baseman Cody Hawn to give the Bucs a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the fifth, Mendez doubled to right center scoring Reeder from first to extend the ETSU lead to 3-1.

The Vols cut into the Buccaneer lead in the bottom of the fifth scoring a run on a P.J. Polk RBI ground out to make the score 3-2.

Cody Brown came in to score on a wild pitch for Tennessee in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 3-all.

ETSU regained the lead in the top of the seventh as Mendez came in to score on a pinch hit bunt single by Chris Rankhorn (Gallatin, Tenn.) to give the Buccaneers a 4-3 lead.

Blake Forsythe tied the game at 4-all in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single up the middle. The Vols took a 5-4 lead later in the inning as Grisham was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in a run.

Hoilman came up with a huge hit with two outs in the top of the eighth as he doubled down the left field line scoring May and Reeder to give the Bucs a 6-5 lead. Second baseman Ben Allen (Kingsport, Tenn.) added some insurance for ETSU as he doubled in Hoilman to make the score 7-5. Later in the inning, Rankhorn came in to score on a wild pitch to increase the Bucs lead to 8-5.

Tennessee tied the game in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run double by Hawn and a RBI single by Forsythe to bring the score to 8-8.

Mendez put the Bucs back in front in the top of the ninth as he doubled in the right fielder Jacob Fabry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) to give ETSU a 9-8 lead.

The Bucs are back in action tomorrow at 7 p.m. as they host Radford at Cardinal Park in a non-conference game. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.